Determinants Affecting The Morisset Cooranbong Community

Lower incomes, lower levels of education and employment, and poorer access to health services are among the social ...good health and wellbeing in rural and remote Australia determinants of poor health for people in rural and remote areas, who are also disadvantaged by a higher prevalence of common risk factors for health, such as higher rates of smoking, greater rates of disability and lower rates of physical activity.

Communities are sometimes largely unaware that social factors rather than medical ones, such as income, and employment status, shape our health. Our health is also determined by the health and social services we receive, and our ability to attain high education levels, food and safe housing, among other factors.

The determinants have a positive or negative effect on the health of individuals and communities (Dudgeon, 2014). Aboriginal health recognizes that social inequalities are associated with health inequality. For example, lack of education, homelessness and low income are clearly associated with ill health and affect human development. This can contribute to chronic stress which impacts on the body's immune system, circulatory system, and metabolic functions resulting in mental health problems (Baum,

“The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life” (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2009). The social determinants of health can be divided into 5 categories, age, sex and hereditary factors, individual lifestyle factors, social and community networks, living and working conditions and general socioeconomic, cultural and

The majority of health issues that the Aboriginal community faces are related directly and indirectly to social, economic, cultural and political areas. Infrastructure, housing, employment, income, environmental and education are connected to the individual and community based effects of health.

Marmot, M. (2011). Social determinants and the health of Indigenous Australians. Med J Aust, 194(10),

Having a low income can lead to poor to health, because you won’t have access or opportunities for better health, such as safe homes, nutritious foods and good schools. “Income may not be the strongest risk factor for any particular disease or outcome, but it’s a risk factor for all of them.” (Krisberg, 2017)

What might explain these statistics, or at least serve as correlations, are the determinants of health. If the reader is not familiar with the determinants of health, the World Health Organisation (WHO) provides an explanation of them. In essence, these health determinants are factors that have significant impact upon one’s health. The main determinants for health are: socioeconomic status, where the rich and upper classes tend to be healthier; education, where low education is linked to stress, lower self-esteem and poorer health choices; environment, where purer air, cleaner water, healthier workplaces and better housing contribute to being healthier; health services, where access to services and proper equipment all contribute to health; as well as gender, genetics, culture and social behaviour (WHO, 2016). As there are so health determinants, where essays can be written on one alone, it is not within the scope of this essay to critically analyse each determinant for Indigenous Australians. With this in mind, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2014) documents an extensive list of data for Indigenous health, most of which discusses issues which are out-of-scope for this analysis. What is relevant, however, is outlined next. Across the board, in 2011, the Indigenous population was younger than the non-Indigenous population due to high fertility and mortality rates with those

Residents of rural and remote communities tend to experience poorer health outcomes than those in the metropolitan area (Humphreys & Walkerman, 2008). The fact that the high proportion of Indigenous Australians, which increases with remoteness, reflects the lag in Indigenous health outcomes (Humphreys & Walkerman, 2008).

This report is going to explore and make recommendations based on the idea of the social determinants of health in the remote community Nhulunbuy. This essay will look at the following Social Determinates of Health; Assessing the Physical Environment, including ways to improve it. Assessing Culture, including how it can be affected by substance abuse and how the elders can help improve the communities living. As well as, Assessing Education and Social Support Networks, by looking at education availability along with the access to specialised medical help when necessary.

The following report will focus on the health plan Koolin Balit: Victorian Government strategic directions for Aboriginal health 2012-2022 (Koolin Balit). This report will firstly provide an overview of Koolin Balit and will discuss the selected health plan Key Priority Area Two: Healthy Childhood. The at-risks groups pre-school and primary school aged Aboriginal children affected by the priority area will then be discussed. There are three Determinants of Health (DOH) that will be focused on throughout the report, these being education, food (access to and distribution) and access to care and health services (Keleher & MacDougall, 2016). Evidence will be used throughout the report to support the DOH and discuss the relevance of the DOH to Key Priority Area Two: Healthy Childhood.

Living in a remote area has always been thought to have negative influences on the individual. There are 35 % of the total population in Australia living in rural area(Phillips, 2009).Rural areas in Australia and all over the world are not geographically isolated and disadvantaged only but also culturally and economically deprived which has great consequences on the health status of the population. The main two factors that have a major effect on rural health are socioeconomic status and cultural issues(Beard, Tomaska, Earnest, Summerhayes, & Morgan, 2009).

The Aboriginals also known as the Indigenous people are the first people’s inhabitants of mainland Australia (WIKIPEDIA). Historically, Aboriginals enjoyed better health before any invasions from non-Indigenous peoples. They didn’t suffer from any major illnesses though they did have other type of health issues, but their life was happier and content. Everything started to change after 1788 when non-Indigenous people introduced illnesses where the mortality rate of Aboriginals population started to increase, and this affected their life and the community (http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/health-facts/overviews/the-context-of-indigenous-health). There are various factors that contribute to the poor health status of Indigenous people, and this is part of the social determinants of health which should been seen in a broader context (1)(2). Factors such as employment, income, stress, gender, education, behavioral aspects, working and living conditions, social networks and support, are interrelated and complex, and are part of the social

Social determinants of health are social, economic and physical factors that affect the health of individuals in any given population. There are fourteen social determinants of health but Income is perhaps the most important of these because it shapes living conditions, influences health related behaviors, and determines food security. In Canada, people with lower incomes are more susceptible to disease/ conditions, higher mortality rate, decreased life expectancy and poorer perceived health than people with high incomes. In numerous Canadian studies and reports, there has been more emphasis on health being based on an individual’s characteristics, choices and behaviours, rather than the role that income plays as a social determinant of health. Although Canada has one of the highest income economies in the world and is comprised of a free health care system, many low income families are a burden on the system because of the physical and mental health issues influenced by income insecurity. Low income individuals are heavier users of health care services because they have lower levels of health and more health problems than do people with higher incomes. This essay will address income as a social determinant of health in three key sections: what is known on the issue, why the issue is important and how can health and public policies address the issue. The main theme that runs through the essay is the income related health inequalities among low income groups compared to

Social determinants refer generally to social factors, such as income inequality or social exclusion which influence health (Community Tolls Box, 2013). “The social determinants approach is underpinned by an appreciation of the broader value of health to society and the dependence of health on actions far beyond the health sector, as both problems and solutions are system-wide.” (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2010). As the Australian population is ageing, the social determinants need to be adjusted to face the future challenges. The social determinants have become the main focus regarding the health of the people in the whole world and Australia is one of them (Hunter, Neiger, & West, (2011). Lots of fund are already being used in researching about the relationship between social determinants and health. Instead of dealing with curing and studying of the disease, the government and scientists have turned their focus on the main root cause of good and poor health Hunter, Neiger, & West, (2011). This essay will discuss some of the positive and negative impact of the social determinants of health and illness of the ageing population in Australia as well as the ways in which health can be affected by staying in aged care facilities after admission just like in case of Mrs Wilson.